Overwatch raises $15M Series A to fight AI-powered cybercrime
What's the deal? OverwatchDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, a New York-based digital threat detection startup, has raised a $15 million Series A led by Mouro CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →. Visa VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, Capital One VenturesDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, PruVen CapitalDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, New Era Capital PartnersDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Y Combinator also participated.
What's the endgame? Founded in 2022 by Arjun Bisen and Zara Perumal, Overwatch builds AI agents and other tools to help companies scale their defenses against digital threats. Its customers include Visa, Capital One, Cash AppDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, SoFi, Stripe, and DoorDash.
Why now? Bisen, a former Australian diplomat, argues AI has already reshaped cybercrime by blending attacks, fraud, and financial crime into a single threat. "These silos of cybersecurity and money laundering and fraud, the idea that those are separate, that's disappeared," he told Fortune.
What's at stake? AI has slashed the cost of attacks to roughly $3 each, by Mastercard's count, creating what Bisen calls a "zero barrier-to-entry" for scammers. He cited one threat actor that launched over 100 attack campaigns in five days, compromised 27 payment sites, and harvested details from more than 600,000 cards.
The money: Overwatch's raise is modest by current sector standards. Global cyber and privacy startups raised $6.8 billion in the third quarter of 2026, about 50% more than the prior quarter, though the number of rounds fell. Most of that capital went to far larger deals, including $400 million rounds for Island and Cyera.
The signal: The round's weight lies in its backers, not its size. Strategic investment from Visa Ventures and Capital One Ventures — both also customers — shows that major financial and technology firms are funding tools to keep pace as AI makes digital threats cheaper and easier to produce.
Read more: fortune.com
Image credit: Overwatch
